Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Real Life vs. Blogging

Sorry that it has been a couple days since I've last been able to post something! I'm sure that both of you are very upset and are considering finding a new purpose in life. My goal is to post as often as possible, and the hope is that if I type enough words in succession, something interesting is bound to come out in some form or another. Work and other responsibilities have kept me away from posting as much as I typically prefer over the past couple days, so that is one part of the point of the title "Real Life vs. Blogging". Finding the balance is not always as easy as I would like because I make $0 and 0 cents and 0 hay pennies from the blog. In fact, it is more likely that I make negative money when I spend time writing because that is time I could be spending on developing value for myself - learning a new language, reading up on investing, doing my job, etc.

The second part of Real Life vs. Blogging is something that I often think about but have stumbled upon even more today. This website is my own site and it is meant to highlight my feelings about everything - but mostly Michigan. The question that I have is at what point can someone realistically hold my point of view against me? Everyone certainly has their own positive and negative thoughts, but most often these thoughts are not available for all to read on the internet. I use the term "all" very loosely here. I should say tens and tens of people. Maybe just tens of people.

Since I started writing this blog, I have meticulously tried to stay away from blatantly offensive thoughts, words, and alliteration. Significant swears are non-existent on my site, and my most controversial viewpoint is that I think gay people are pretty great and should be welcomed with open arms in Michigan. However, different people find different things offensive and bothersome, and something as ridiculously inoffensive (to me) as the phrase "What the hell" has caused some small amount of dissatisfaction. I'm struggling with the concept of where can my thoughts, as lame and generally neutral as they typically are, get me into trouble?

Let's say I'm applying to school and someone on an admissions board finds his way to my website. This person then realizes that I am very Michigan-centric ("Doesn't have a significant global understanding and is too insulated") and that in this specific sentence I wrote "his way" when referring to the admissions board member ("This guy is sexist - admissions boards can have male and female members"). Maybe a future employer is anti-homosexual and is so upset with my pro-gay stance that this person will choose not to hire me. I don't think this would be legal, but no one would know aside from the potential employer that this is the true reason that he (SHE) chose not to hire me.

The most likely scenario is that none of this will happen because this website is a literal nothing in the great ocean that is the internet, but it is a little bit of a concern. In the meantime, all I can do is share my thoughts and love of Michigan with you, try not to be too offensive, and hope that anyone who does come here can acknowledge that I am free to share my thoughts with no expected repercussion, as long as these thoughts are not universally unacceptable (advocating puppy abuse, listening to Chumbawamba, encouraging people to shop at Wal-Mart - see what I did there? Very clever.)

Poo.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Blog on.

Anonymous said...

I love listening to Chumbawumba. How dare you. This blog is extremely offensive. I am offended.